Use by September 10, 2008
Contact; Jessica Prosper, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County, 518-483-7403

Northern NY Beef Producers Welcome Cornell Specialist
for On-Farm Ultrasound Workshops September 12-13

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has provided funding for research, workshops and fact sheets on how to improve beef carcass quality and consistency. As part of that mission requested by regional livestock producers, on September 12 and 13, 2008, Cornell Beef Cattle Extension Specialist Dr. Michael Baker will conduct three workshops at Northern New York farms on carcass evaluation and grading. Baker will demonstrate the use of ultrasound to determine carcass composition of a live animal. A video presentation will help producers see how the ultrasound results compare with actual hanging carcass results. The technique, called live animal grading, helps farmers to produce animals of a consistent quality for market.

The Friday, September 12 workshop will be held from 3pm to 6pm at the Lloyd Garnsey Farm in Clayton. The Saturday, September 13 workshops will be held from 9am to 12 noon at the Double T Ranch of Hugh and Ginette Stark in Malone and from 2pm to 5pm at the Corbiau Creek Angus Farm of Penny Pobrio in Altona.

Pre-registration for the free workshops is required. Call your local Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) office or CCE of Franklin County at 518-483-7403 by September 10.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org has recently added two fact sheets: �What is Real-Time Beef Carcass Ultrasounding?� and �Collecting Real-Time Beef Carcass Ultrasound Data� with information on the primary carcass trait that measured by live animal ultrasound and the appropriate ages for collecting ultrasound data on the various breeds of beef animal.

Northern NY has more than 800 farms with beef cattle totaling more than 10,000 animals. # # #